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Elections
"elections" -Initializing world databanks For every country in the world, the simulator takes into account a certain mass of data appearing in our databanks: * -dates of the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections (Upper House and Lower House) * -voting system for both these elections: majority vote/proportional, one or two rounds, direct or indirect suffrage * -minimum voting age -Running of elections in the game * "Elections" menu La rubrique "Elections" du menu de la politique nationale est dédiée au fonctionnement des différentes élections. On y trouve de nombreuses informations et les actions possibles du joueur. Hors période électorale, le joueur peut proposer via ce menu des changements dans la Constitution : mode de scrutin, durée et nombre de renouvellement des mandats, âge minimum pour voter. * Primary elections During the presidential election, Primary elections last approximately two months on average, during which political parties officially appoint their own candidate. In the US, Super Tuesday is staged on the opening Tuesday of February (or March) and its purpose is to appoint democrat and republican candidates. As appointments evolve, selected candidates appear in the "Candidate" tab featured in the "Elections" section. When it comes to making a decision, parties of considerable importance often need more time than small less influential ones. The player does not face primary elections: if he or she accepts to run for office, the support of his or her party will be unconditional. However, if the player does not wish to continue at the end of his or her term of office, primary elections will then take place inside his or her own party. Primary elections end at the outset of the official campaign: come this date, it is an obligation for all parties to have chosen their candidate. * Election platform From the outset of the campaign, the player may draw up his or her own platform. In the "Platform" tab, he or she may choose three proposals appearing on a lengthy list. These proposals may be quantified by the player (example: election pledge concerning the lowering of unemployment figures to x % of the working population) or picked at face value (example: winning the next FIFA World Cup). Once this platform is drawn up, it is assessed by all the characters featured in the game, and it is they who form an opinion on its relevance and will position themselves according to their interests come voting time (see "Calculation of votes" below). The platform is also a committment which will be under scrutiny, if the player is re-elected, thoughout the duration of his or her term of office: should this platform fail to meet expectations, all the characters featured in the game will take these broken promises into account when they decide to put their faith in the player (nb: being in line with a character corresponds to a level of friendship: "do I appreciate this person or not?"). * Meetings ("Campaign" tab) Throughout the campaign, the player may arrange meetings in the cities of his or her choice. This will enable him or her to boost his or her image in the regions to which these chosen cities belong. For efficiency’s sake, meetings must be scheduled in convenient periods of time otherwise they will have no impact. * Vote rigging ("Campaign" tab) Le joueur peut sShould he or she wish to do so, the player may decide to defraud. Three proposals are at his or her disposal: destruction of voting papers, double registration of voters, votes of deceased persons. These actions will have an impact on the final result, yet obviously entail a risk factor as they may be disclosed and lead to scandals. Such risks are assessed according to the level of restriction of freedom present in the country and to the efficiency of secret services (this topic will be highlighted in another newsletter covering the scandals issue). * Opinion polls Throughout the campaign, polls regularly fall and their results are displayed in the left hand part of the "Elections" section. * Ballot system The running of the election is always in conformity with the ballot system existing in the country: direct or indirect suffrage, one or two rounds. Between both rounds, a debate between both finalists is always broadcast on television. * Results The player is informed by a phone call from the principal private secretary if he or she has won the election or not. In the case of indirect suffrage, the player is only re-elected (or not) following M.P.’s votes. The new term of office only officiallly begins on the day of nomination. -Calculation of votes NB: a "character" is a household name in the country and all characters are available in the "Categories of characters" selection window, appearing in order to fix an appointment, for example. Each character featured in the game votes for one sole candidate: the one with which he or she will be the most in line with. This alignment depends on the following parameters (with varied coefficients): * political alignment: to what extent character and candidate share the same political convictions * "actions" alignment: this only concerns the candidate running for Head of State; to what extent the character approves of measures carried out by the player since taking up office. * election pledges: this only concerns the candidate running for Head of State; to what extent the character approves the platform drawn up by the player * next of kin alignment: this only concerns the candidate runing for Head of State; should the character be a family member of the Head of State (mother, father, wife...) * candidates’ popularity rating NB: a newsletter will exclusively focus on the engine’s significant calculations, explaining in further detail the formulation of popularity and of different alignments. Characters’ votes have a varied impact on the final result. The impact of a character’s vote depends on the following personal parameters (with varied coefficients): * popularity : to what extent such a character is appreciated * extent of fame: to what extent such a character is famous * magnetism: to what extent such a character is influential * political relevance: to what extent such a character is committed to political life The nation has its say regarding each candidate. This in fact indicates their respective popularity rating. A candidate’s final result is for one half made up of characters’ votes and for the other half of the nation’s votes. Once voting has come to an end, all of the candidates’ final results are compared, thereby determining the percentages attributed to each of them. -Dictatures In those countries where free elections by universal suffrage do not exist, the player still has a term of office to honour and when the latter comes to an end, he or she must face an appointment procedure. This is the case for sole party governed countries electing their Head of State through party assemblies (as in China, for example), or for monarchies where potentates delegate the powers of the Executive to a politician (as in Jordan, for example). Should he or she have become unpopular, the player may very well not continue. The only cases where the player enjoys unrestricted lifetime power is when he or she personifies a monarch-head of the Executive (as in Saudi Arabia, for example), or when he or she is constitutionally appointed for life (as in Lybia, for example).